Bacterial blight of rice caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) is considered the most important bacterial disease of rice due to its high epidemic potential, especially in extreme climate variation, and its destructiveness to high-yielding but susceptible cultivars.

FAO Viet Nam is taking a leading role in response to a Government call for help in dealing with the country’s most severe drought in more than 60 years. The 2015/16 El Niño weather phenomenon has left many parts of the country, especially the southern Mekong Delta, South Central and Central Highlands regions

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing an application from MosquitoMate to use the bacterium Wolbachia pipientis as a pesticide against the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus). MosquitoMate plans to rear mosquitoes infected with a particular strain of Wolbachia and releasing the males into the environment.

A newly published study from the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) reports that while consumers are aware of genetically modified (GM) crops and food, their knowledge level is limited and often at odds with the facts. Brandon McFadden, assistant professor of food and resource economics at UF/IFAS, and Jayson Lusk, agricultural economics professor at Oklahoma State University conducted the survey to better understand what consumers know about biotechnology, breeding techniques, and label preferences for GM foods.

Crop biotechnology has consistently provided important economic and production gains, improves incomes and reduced risk," according to PG Economics report titled GM Crops: Global Socio-economic and Environmental Impacts 1996- 2014 authored by Graham Brookes and Peter Barfoot.

A small dam in M’bé near Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire represents the inspiring story of unsung heroes who helped more than 300 farming households survive a difficult time when they had little hope. “The M’bé dam was their only lifeline to survival during the decade-long Ivorian political crisis from 2002 to 2011,” said Alain N’Zoromi, operations supervisor at the main research station of the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) in M’bé.

Global food commodity markets are on a stable path for the year ahead, with solid production prospects and abundant stocks pointing to a broadly stable outcome for prices and supplies, FAO said today. Lower food prices than last year means that the world's food import bill are on course to fall to $986 billion this year - below $1 trillion for the first time since 2009.

A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reports engineered microorganisms that can generate sustainable biofuel from carbon dioxide emissions. The technology being developed by Greg Stephanopoulos's group turns industrial waste gases, like carbon dioxide, into fuel.

To 'insulate' the local rice market from rice imports, the Philippines maintains government quotas on them, a measure discouraged under the international trade agreements with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). By June 2017, the country's quantitative restriction (QR) on rice imports will be lifted.

The Global Soil Partnership (GSP) endorsed a set of voluntary guidelines for sustainable soil management at its plenary conference at FAO this week, marking a step towards coordinated action to assure that the earth under our feet - a keystone of global food security - remains fertile.